Adjustable needle guide for sewing machines



ZALQVM ADJUSTABLE NEEDLE GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES mms/TOR @Zwem @L ma/'MW BY L A from/EY Hmmm A. m. @LAYTQN glQEf-il ADJUSTABLE: NEEDLE GUDE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Dem $271 EBI-1&6 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 31 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE NEEDLE GUIDE FOR SEWDG MACHINES Andrew B. Clayton, Sea Bright, N. J., assignor to The Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 27, 1946, Serial No. 718,705

transversely, vertically, and longitudinally of the sewing machine bed.

An object of the present inventionris to provide a sewing machine having an improved adjustable needle guide.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mounting for a needle guide which is especially adapted for use with a chain stitch sewing machine but which may also be used with other types of sewing machines.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment of the invention, from which the several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the drawings which form a part of this specicaton:

Fig. 1 is a vertical, longitudinal sectional view of a portion of a chain stitch sewing machine to which the mechanism of this invention has been applied;

Fig. 2 is a left end fragmentary view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a needle guide embodying the invention; and

Fig. Ll is an exploded perspective View showing parts of the needle-guide mechanism.

For purposes of illustration, the invention is shown as applied to a sewing machine having an operating mechanism of the same general construction as that shown and described in my United States Patent No. 2,345,327, dated March 28 1944. However only as much of the machine is included herein as is necessary to an understanding of the present invention.

The sewing machine comprises a Work supporting bed-plate Il) carried by a table top (not shown). Supported from the lower face of the bed-plate are a plurality of mechanisms most of which are fully described in my United States Patent No. 2,441,931, May 18, 1948. These mechanisms are enclosed by a base-housing, not

herein shown, but which is well known to those versed in the art.

lThe sewing machine mechanism includes a rotary drive shaft I! incorporating a crank I2 and an eccentric I3 by which, respectively, the

5 Claims. (Cl. 112-227) requisite endwise reciprocatory or loop-seizing and -shedding movements and vibratory or socalled needle avoiding movements are imparted to a pair of loopers I4 and I4'. Each looper is mounted on its own looper-carrier IB and I6',

and the looper-carriers, in turn, are supported on a loopen-carrier support I5.

As previously indicated, endwise reciprocatory movement is imparted to the loopers by the crank I2, which controls this movement of the loopers through the medium of a pitman II, rock arms I8 and I9 journaled on a stud 2| and through a link 22 connecting the rocker arm i9 with the looper-carrier I6. The second looper-carrier i6 is connected to the first loopercarrier I6 by a link 23, thereby causing the two looper-carriers to rock in unison and their loopers I4, I 4' to reciprocate in synchronism.

The sidewise or laterally vibrating movements of the loopers are effected through the medium of an eccentric actuated fork 24 and a tubular rock shaft 2B, the latter extending longitudinally of the bed-plate l0 and being journaled in bushings 21, 2B tted within a bearing support 29. The support 2,9 forms a part of a branch 3| de.- pending from the underside of the bed-plate I0 and thus the support 29 carries the rock shaft 26, the left end of which, as viewed in Fig. 1, supports a looper throw-out device designated generally by the numeral 32, and the looper throw-out device carries the looper-carrier support I5, hereinbefore mentioned.

The looper throw-out device 32 is fully described and claimed in my hereinbefore mentioned United States Patent No. 2,441,931, therefore a general description of this mechanism will suffice. The throwout device 32 has a pair of face abutting disks 33 and 34, the disk 33 being formed as an integral part of and there fore rockable with one end of the horizontally disposed looper rock shaft 26. The disk 34, and the looper-carrier support I5, carried thereby, aremounted for limited angular movement with respect to the disk 33 and thus the disk 34 and the support I5 can be swung beyond the normal rocking movement afforded them by the disk -33 and the rock shaft 26. A latch bar 3B,-sl.idably mounted in the disk 33, carries at its upper end a latch-lug 31, that is positioned to enter or be released from a complemental tapered recess 38 formed in the disk 34. The latch bar 33 by means of a spring39 is biased to hold thelug 31 in the recess 38 and thereby normally to cause the disks 33 and 34 to operate as a unit. A spring biased arm 4I, secured to a shaft `at its rear is threaded into a nut 1li.

'forwardly offset portion of the guide 5B. is because of the position of the needles and El', one being slightly ahead oi the other.

es 42 and operated by a lever 43 also secured t0 the shaft 42, is positioned to move the bar 36 and lug 31 against the biasing spring 39 and thereby to allow the disk 34 to move independently of the disk 33. The looper-carrier support l5 journals rock pins 44 and 44' the front end of eachA of which respectively supports the looper carriers l5 and l5'. The upper end of each looper-carrier has secured to it one of the loopers i 4 and I4'. The mechanism, herein shown, also provides a four-motion lower feed mechanism comprising a feed-bar 46, a feed dog 41, a feeddrive rock shaft 48 and a feed-lift rock shaft 49. This mechanism is morefully described in my patent No. 2,441,931, mentioned above.

A pair of vertically inclined needles 5| and 5| are carried by a needle clamp 52 formed on the lower end of a needle bar 53, the latter being reciprocably mounted in an overhanging arm-head 54 of the sewing machine. The Irncclfianism. for reciprocating the needle bar '53 is-of any known type and therefore need not be illustrated or described. Both of the needles 5| and 5| are guided in their downward movements by a pair of adjustably mounted needle guides ,56 and 55 having beveled upper ends, The needle guides are supported from the bearing support 2,9 by means of a split' collar 51 that is -adjustably held in' place on the said bearing support' bya clamping screw 58. The collar 51 has an Vupwardly extending arm ell, grooved as at 'Si to accommodate a bar $2 extending horizontally crosswise of the line of feed and held in said groove by a screw 63 passing through a hole (not shown) in the bar 62 and threaded into the arm 59. The bar t2, which is preferably rectangular in cross section, is provided with two horizontally extending rectangular slots 4 and 64 spaced in such a manner that the horizontal 'distance between the centers of the two holes is approximately equal to the horizontal distance between the two needles 5| and 5| At each of the holes 6d and 64', the bar 52 carriesl a slide 6.6, which supports the needle guides 56 and 56 respectively. Since the means ior `supporting both needle guides is identical, only one will be described. Slide t@ has a pair of grooves t1 and 38, the former groove G1 being formed horizontally in a rear portion of the vslide and being arranged to fit over the bar 62, Awhereas the latter groove t3 is formed vertically in a forward portion of the slide and accommodates the lower substantially vertically positioned lsupport leg 68' of the needle guide 5B. The

`support leg'l' has a vertically elongated slot l 1| and each slide 6B has a horizontal bore 12. 'The needle guide and slide are held to the bar 62 by a bolt 13 that passes through the slot 1|, through the bore 12, through the slot 54 and The front surface of the nut 14 carries a raised neck portion 15 which enters the slot t4', thereby providing wrench-action to keep the nut from turn- '.ing when a' screw driver is used to turn the slotted lhead'portion .of the bolt 13. It will be Vnoted that the upper end of the needle guide 55' is iorwardly'oilset to a greater extent than a This The beveled faces of the needle guides 56 and '56 can lsimultaneouslybe, adjusted toward or "away from the back of the needle, which direcftion is also transversely of the sewing machine bed, by loosening the clamp screw 58 and slightly rotating the split collar 51 on the support 29. Either needle guide can be adjusted vertically by loosening the bolt 13 and sliding the needle guide up and down as desired, Either needle guide can be adjusted longitudinally of the sewing machine bed by loosening the bolt 13 and moving the slide horizontally on the bar |52,` allowing the bolt 13 to move sidewise in the slot 64 or 64, whichever is involved.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

l. In a sewing machine having a bearing support, a needle guide mechanism comprising a split collar clamped to said bearing support, an arm extending vertically from said collar, a horizontally extending bar secured to said arm, said bar having a rectangular slot provided therein,

a slide carried by said bar in the region of said rectangular slot, a needle guide having a slot and being carried by said slide, and a bolt for adjustably securing said needle-guide and said slide to said bar.

2. In a sewing machine having a bearing support, 4a needle guide mechanism comprising a split collar clamped to said bearing support, an upwardly extending arm formed integral with said collar and provided with a horizontally extending groove, a horizontally extendingv support bar fitted into said groove. and secured to said arm, said bar having a plurality of horizontally extending slots, a slide carried by said bar in the region of each of said slots and each of said slides having two grooves, one of said grooves being engaged by said support bar, an apertured needle guide carried by the other groove of each of said slides, and a. bolt for adjustably securing eachy needle-guide and slide to said bar.

3. In a sewing machine, a work-support, workfeeding mechanism, and stitch-forming mechanism including a plurality of needles spaced from each other crosswise of the line oi feed, in combination, an arm disposed below said work-support to extend crosswise of the line of feed and provided with a plurality of horizontally elongated and alined slots, a plurality of needleguides each of which is provided with a slot formed longitudinally of said needle-guide, means for individually securing said needle-guides upon said arm by securing means passing through the slots of said needle-guides and through the respective said slots of the arm and thereby providing for horizontal and vertical adjustments of said needle-guides, a bearing support, and mounting means upon said support providing for adjustment of said arm angularly about said support.

4, In a chain stitch sewing machine having a sewing machine bed, a needle-guide mechanism supported from said bed and comprising a horizontally extending bar provided with a slot, a slide carried by said bar in the region of said slot, said slide having transverse grooves on opposite sides thereof, a needle-guide having a vertically disposed support leg provided with a vertically extending slot and engaging one of the grooves in said slide, the other of said grooves in said slide being engaged by said bar, and a bolt for adjustably securing said vertically disposed support leg of said needle-guide and said slide to said bar.

5. A needle-guide for sewing machines, oomprising, a horizontally extending bar having a horizontally extending slot, a slide having transverse grooves, one of said grooves being engaged by said bar in the region of said slot, a needle.-

guide having a vertically disposed ieg bvided with a vertically extending slot and engaging the other groove of said slide, and a means for adjustably securing said needle-guide and said slide to said bar.

ANDREW B. CLAYTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ie of Ianis patent:

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